Memories of a Happier Time
by konpyu-tamania
Summary: Areis remembers her love from long ago and wishes he would come back to her and her friends in Hollow Bastion.


Aerith walked through the halls of the library, staring up at the tall cases filled with books. Ansem had created a large collection before he betrayed them and let the darkness consume their home. He had fought back. The rest of them had watched in horror. And when he fell and disappeared, Leon had taken up his sword in order to protect them and their home.

_/"SQUALL! Don't, you'll only get hurt or disappear too! Please stop, and let's go while we still have a chance!"/_

She could remember her own words as if it were only yesterday, not nine years ago. Nine long years of searching and hoping that one day they would find the one person that could defeat the darkness and let them go home. Aerith had been searching for another person as well though. The person who had first stood up against Ansem's waves of monsters, her first love.

"Hey…what are you doing in here?" Leon was leaning against one of the shelves regarding her silently.

Wiping a tear from her cheek she turned to him and smiled. "Just remembering when we were children. We used to play in here all the time…"

Leon nodded and crossed his arms across his chest. "We all used to play here."

"Leon…do you think that it can ever really be the place we grew up in?" She asked waving her hand to indicate their world.

"No."

"I didn't think so…but I was hoping that maybe…that just maybe when we came back that…"

"That he would be here?"

"Yes." She said in a small voice. Tears leaked down her cheeks again, and she quickly left, not wanting to cry in front of one of her childhood friends.

_/ They had discovered something hidden inside a moving panel in the library. It shone like sunshine as they grabbed it from it's hiding place and admired it on the floor nearby. There were four of them, sometimes five when Yuffie decided to tag along, but she was too young for this sort of treasure hunt. You needed to be tall enough to reach all the places that treasure might be hiding, which meant that only the four of them were able to go. Or at least that was what Squall had told her and sent her off crying to find someone else to play with for the day._

_As they all looked down at the shining yellow ball Yuffie came up behind them._

"_Hi! Let me see, let me see!" She stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to see what they had found._

_Squall frowned and Cloud followed suit, copying his actions, it was the only way Leon let him come with them on any of their adventures._

"_No. I told you that you're too small for this. Now go away."_

"_Squall…that is really fair…can't she just see it for a minute?"_

_Aerith smiled at their black haired friend, he always thought of others. "I agree…just let Yuffie see it for a second."_

_Squall shrugged and walked off, pretending not to be interested. Cloud stood up ready to follow him, but looked from Squall walking away to Aerith and his other friends still playing with the magical ball of light. Confused as to whether or not to stay and fulfill his curiousity about the small ball or not he shifted from one foot to the other. After a few moments his eyes filled with tears and he ran off in the opposite direction that Squall had gone. Aerith and the others watched him go but thought nothing of it, Cloud acted that way all the time, no one was quite sure why however._

_A few minutes later they started playing with the ball, tossing it back and forth between the three of them, until Ansem came up to them. He took away the ball and set it on a shelf that was too high for any of them to reach._

"_That ball is very special, why do you think it was hidden?" All the children shook their heads, "Because I don't want it to be broken. Please don't play with it any more, all right?" They all nodded and went on their way, deciding to play outside instead._

_Hours later when it began to get dark the three of them went back to the library, in order to see if it glowed in the dark. When they got there the only thing they found was Cloud sitting on the floor along with the shattered pieces of the glowing ball. He was crying and trying desperately to put the pieces back together, leaving cuts from the broken glass all over his hands._

"_I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…I only wanted to see it…and…and…" He burst into tears as Squall and Ansem walked into the library as well._

_Ansem saw the mess and immediately turned to Cloud sitting on the floor and sobbing. "Cloud, did you do this?"_

_Cloud could only stare through tear stained eyes and whimper as Ansem knelt down next to him._

"_I'll ask again, Cloud, did you break this?" He asked as he held up the largest piece of the glass ball._

_The black haired boy stepped forward, "No, I did it. Cloud was with me and he got really worried once I told him you'd be really mad at me for breaking it. He was trying to help me put it back together…he's better at puzzles than I am." He blushed a little and then knelt down to help pick up the pieces._

_Ansem's expression softened little. "Alright…Squall can you take Cloud and get his hands cleaned up then help him get to bed?"_

_Squall nodded trying his best not to look annoyed at the proposition. He took Cloud around the shoulders and walked him out of the room._

"_Now I'm not going to be angry with you…but try to be more careful next time. You can come in tomorrow and help me dust the books as punishment."_

"_Okay…"_

"_Now off to bed, all of you." He shooed the children away as he finished cleaning up the broken crystal._

_Once they left the library groaned and made a face that boarded on angry and annoyed._

"_What's wrong?" Aerith asked, she was extremely impressed that he had stood up for Cloud and against Ansem._

"_He makes me so mad sometimes!"_

"_Who, Cloud?" She asked puzzled._

_He shook his head, "No! Ansem…he was really mad when he thought that Cloud had broken the ball but once I said I did it he got all-nice again. I feel bad for Cloud, Ansem doesn't like him very much…and well I haven't always been very nice to him either…" He sighed and leaned over the railing looking out across the sky._

"_You're the nicest person I've ever met!" Aerith yelled as she hugged him. He blushed and muttered something under his breath. That was when Aerith decided she liked him. /_

Leon followed Aerith out onto the balcony, she was leaning over the railing looking down toward the lake and the walls of water that flowed upwards instead of down. "I'm sure he'll come back…Cloud is looking for him. They'll make it back, don't worry."

She smiled, "Thanks Leon…this is where I first realized that I liked him…he had taken the blame for breaking that ball that we found in the library, do you remember?"

Leon searched his memories then shook his head, "No…sorry I don't."

"Oh…that's alright…Cloud was really upset, he just got worse once Ansem came in. He stood up and took the blame…he stood up to Ansem even then when we were so young. He was always so brave."

"Stop talking about him like he's dead…like I said, Cloud will find him, and then they will both come home. Then we can all be together again. It will be better than it was before."

"I guess."

Leon walked up next to her and looked out across the open space at where the sun was setting. "He promised me…he won't break that promise, no matter what."


End file.
